News
Girls can play CYO football with boys, archbishop directs
Come the fall, girls will be allowed to play full contact football with boys on Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) teams in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, the archdiocesan Communications Office announced March 14 in a statement.
After conclave, cardinals get caught up, get to know new pope
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While the cardinal electors were intensely praying and choosing the next pope, they were utterly unaware of the huge crowds waiting outside braving the rain and whether the smoke really worked, said Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York. He said later at a dinner with Pope Francis, "We toasted him and then he toasted us and he said, 'May God forgive you'" for having elected him pope, which "brought the house down" with laughter.
Who is Pope Francis?
Vatican City, 13 March 2013 (Vatican Information Service) – Following is the official biography of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an Ordinary of their own rite, was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. He studied […]
Pope Francis starts first day with Marian prayer, bill paying
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion -- and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him. The new pope left the Domus Sanctae Marthae at 8 a.m. March 14 for a five-minute drive to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he prayed before an icon of Mary and the child Jesus.
Latin Americans say pope’s election is recognition of global South
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (CNS) -- Latin Americans said the election of the first pope from the region is recognition of the role the global South plays in the church's future. Pope Francis, the 76-year-old Argentine who served as archbishop of Buenos Aires as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, comes as both a surprise and a source of hope for Latin American Catholics.
Jesuits surprised that first of their brethren is elected pope
WASHINGTON (CNS) — The Jesuit brethren of the new Pope Francis were as surprised as anyone when Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was announced March 13 as the first Jesuit to be elected pope. Jesuit Father Gerard Stockhausen, executive secretary of the Jesuit Conference USA, told Catholic News Service that when Cardinal […]
New pope’s initial schedule released
Coming events for Pope Francis include a closed Mass with the cardinals March 14, a briefing for journalists March 16 and the formal papal installation Mass March 19.
New pope ‘figure of unity’ for all Catholics, says US Bishops’ president
WASHINGTON (CNS) — Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, congratulated the newly elected pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who took the name Francis. Pope Francis “stands as the figure of unity for all Catholics wherever they reside. The bishops of the United […]
Text of Pope Francis’ remarks from balcony after his election
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is the English translation of Pope Francis' remarks delivered from the balcony after his election as pope. Brothers and sisters, good evening. You know that the task of the conclave was to give Rome a bishop. It seems my brother cardinals went almost to the ends of the earth to find one.
Argentine Cardinal Bergoglio elected pope, takes name Francis
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, the leader of a large urban archdiocese in Latin America, was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis. He is the first pope in history to come from the Western Hemisphere and the first non-European to be elected in almost 1,300 years. The Jesuit was also the first member of his order to be elected pope, and the first member of any religious order to be elected in nearly two centuries. The election March 13 came on the second day of the conclave, on the conclave’s fifth ballot. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausible candidates and no clear favorite.